Insomnia and Testosterone

[justMongo]

Not only do I have apnea, but insomnia. I'm feeling it now. My doctor prescribed my Lorazepam; they help, but I have no scheduled refill. I read they are addicting too. But I can no longer fall asleep without strong aid.

Now before all this came about I could take .5 mg of melatonin and crash hard. But the last two times I tried to fall asleep with melatonin alone I drifted in and out of an uncomfortable sleep.

Anyone recommend a good sleeping pill?

How does the possibility of low testosterone fit in with daytime tiredness? Someone I know at work who has apnea brought that up to me Friday. I'm 46 btw.

If you've got low testosterone for your age (as I used to have), taking a T supplement (in my case Testogel) can help day time tiredness.

But your doctor should also investigate WHY you have low T.

In my case, it turned out the reason it was low was that I had a non-malignant tumour of the Pituitary gland. I'm now getting treatment for that and consequently my T is now back within the normal range for a man of my age. The tumour was also one of the reasons I was so tired (the other was my OSA) and why I constantly had headaches. My headaches have now gone and I'm no longer so tired.

You have a good doctor. Many would just treat the symptom and not look for the undelying cause. Glad it turned out well for you.

[me50]

Somnapure I heard works great and is supposed to be natural

[kfujioka]

Not only do I have apnea, but insomnia. I'm feeling it now. My doctor prescribed my Lorazepam; they help, but I have no scheduled refill. I read they are addicting too. But I can no longer fall asleep without strong aid.

Now before all this came about I could take .5 mg of melatonin and crash hard. But the last two times I tried to fall asleep with melatonin alone I drifted in and out of an uncomfortable sleep.

Anyone recommend a good sleeping pill?

How does the possibility of low testosterone fit in with daytime tiredness? Someone I know at work who has apnea brought that up to me Friday. I'm 46 btw.

Hi. I take seroquel (quetiapine). It works very well. The tablets are 25mg each. I take two now but in most cases a half pill is enough. Anyways doctor will start you on a half usually.
I have used it numerous times in my life and it always works.
Do you use CPAP? Because I think most sleeping pills increase apneas with OSA.
Good luck!
I know how you're feeling.
I cut mine down from 2.5 tablets to 2 and this am I work too early with some insomnia. I am considering switching to GAbapentin instead of Seroquel because my doctor said it doesn't increase apneas.
You could try GAbapentin too. But I haven't tried it yet for insomnia so I can't say if it really works. I have my prescription of GAbapentin but haven't started it yet.
I am hesitating because I hate giving up Seroquel when I know it works so well.
I see my sleep Dr, Sept. 4th then I'll ask him about GAbapentin and apneas. (At this stage I don't want to use a pill that increases apneas)
Good luck
Kim

[justMongo]

That's an off-label use for seroquel.

[me50]

You really need to investigate Seroquel thoroughly. Just my honest opinion.

[cant_sleep_in_nj]

axiron user here as well. Doctor told me the axiron would help sleep and it does

It's rather expensive isn't it?

the pharmacist has a coupon that makes it $25 per month. he has pulled it out for me the last two years roughly. just ask your pharmacist if they have the axiron coupon

[Paralel]

I agree with all of the above regarding Seroquel (Quetiapine). Using it to help people sleep is waaaay off-label. It is classified as an atypical antipsychotic. No, that is not a typo. Using Seroquel, or its generic, to help people sleep is almost malpractice. The risks/benefit ratio of using it as a sleep aid are absurd!

[cant_sleep_in_nj]

just a little update. I cut the dosage back on the axiron (topical testosterone) for a couple few months. one side effect of test is you can feel like a teenage kid again in certain areas that might make your wife happy. I noticed i started not sleeping as well recently. Started back on the regular prescribed dose and within a week im definitely sleeping much better, more daytime energy and able to focus on keeping on a diet better

just thought id mention it

[Kadenz]

It's far easier said than done, of course, but an alternative to drugs for alleviating the symptoms of insomnia is to try tackling the insomnia itself.

If you haven't already, you could try taking a Mindfulness course (a class, buying a book on Mindfulness or using the guides that are available on the web).

I understand there is robust evidence (randomised controlled trials) to show that mindfulness can be an effective treatment for depression and insomnia.

It takes an hour a day for 8 weeks, according to Mark Williams, one of the leading experts on Mindfulness. Type Oxford mindfulness centre into an Internet search engine to find out more information.

It could be worth a try.

Kadenz

[Mr. Van Winkle]

Somnapure I heard works great and is supposed to be natural

Somnapure is what I use to get off my Lorazapam and Benadryl.
I had a span of 6-8 weeks were I just could not go to sleep on my own,(I called it sleep anxiety), I only became anxious at night time before bed (it's horrible to lay there feeling like you can't breath).
So when this was all going down that's when I was tested for sleep apnea. So long story short , I knew I could keep taking those harder drugs so that's when I found this Somnapure so I gave it a try (my anxiety was also lessening) and it did the trick, once I started cpap after two weeks I was also able to get off the Somnapure.
Not that everything will work for everyone I'd say in your case give it a try, I definitely know were your at!.
I wish you the best of luck and hope you get your sleep back soon!

Mr. Van Winkle